PROJECT KNOWLEDGE-DAY 2

Scottsdale & Tempe, Arizona

Today was a day to regroup for a full day before continuing on to Texas. We woke up in the morning ready to start the day with a group workout, but as luck would have it, we had to rush our broken camera to a repair shop (hence the lack of photos on this blog entry). Luckily the problem was small enough to be solved in a day (flash shutter was jammed) and thankfully the lovely photos you see from our first day were salvaged! The rest of the afternoon was spent at Camping World, Cruise America, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's, stocking up on more necessities. Did you know RV's need special toilet paper? Neither did we, and luckily we got good advice before we learned the hard way.... We also stocked up on good food for our journey, at least enough to last us till we get to Dallas! We closed out the day with a powerhouse meeting to get prepped for the week ahead and for our 9-hour drive to Van Horn, TX in the morning! Tomorrow night will be our first night's stay at an RV camp. Wish us luck!!!

PROJECT KNOWLEDGE- DAY 1

The Project Knowledge Tour begins... Transcendence Theatre departs LA!

Our first destination is Dallas, Texas, where the regional theatre movement began in 1947. We will be attending the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival at the Water Tower Theatre.

One of the key reasons we are attending the festival is to catch Mike Daisey's How Theatre Failed America and to participate in a panel discussion following the piece!

First Stop en route to Dallas: Scottsdale, AZ

Upon leaving L.A., we picked up our RV's at Cruise America, and it finally dawned on us that 7 of us, including our dog, Junior, will be living in 2 RV's for 2 months...and yet we all seem to be stoked about it. After packing up the RV's and running errands for last minute necessities, we got on the road to Arizona to meet up with Stephan and stay at his family's home. Thus, we were spared sleeping in the RV's overnight, but we weren't spared a disturbance from a herd of wild pigs (yes... WILD PIGS, WHAT?!), which apparently have free reign of residential areas in Scottsdale. It was a pretty amazing sight to top off a pretty amazing day!

Transcendence Theatre Travel Blog

The Transcendence Theatre Company is dedicated to integrating health and wellness into the arts. We are extremely passionate about this subject because we feel it is intregal (and often a missing link!) in the development of artists, groups of artists, and the communities they serve. Our company is in its earliest developmental stages, but even at this time we are confident that what we are working towards will have a profound impact on our culture and society. To learn more details about our company's mission please visit www.transcendencetheatre.org

We are now heading into the next phase of our company’s development. We are embarking upon a 2 month cross country research tour called “Project Knowledge”. In March through April, we are driving across America to hold a series of interviews and discussions addressing, among other things, the health of artists and instititutions. We are visiting 40 cities to meet with a distinguished list of artistic directors, arts administrators, professional actors, educators, arts advocates, and community members at over 25 theatres and 10 universities across the country.

We have set up this blog to document and share our travels across the country. 40 cities, 25 theatres, 6 people, 2 RV's, 1 dog, and a BIG dream... its bound to make a great story!!!! We look forward to passing along some of the knowledge we gain as we survey the American Theatre landscape. We also look forward to sharing life on the road with you. :) We will be blogging everyday, so follow our journey! It's time to hit the road!

Transcendence Theatre Los Angeles Benefit 2010

To generate excitement and formally announce "Project Knowledge", our current research tour across the country, we held a benefit performance at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles on February 20th, 2010. It was a wonderfully successful evening of song, dance, light fare, and a special screening of video footage from our company's first project in Mexico. We had a fabulous turnout of over 100 patrons including at least 12 residents of Punta Banda who had driven up from Mexico to attend our event! We explained our project and its mission, and the outpouring of love and support gave us an incredible boost towards gearing up for our 2-month tour! To learn more details about our upcoming research tour please watch Amy Miller's LA Benefit keynote speech below!

WE CANNOT WAIT TO SHARE ALL THAT IS ON THE HORIZON!

After recently completing our 4 month exploration in Punta Banda, Mexico (check out our Blog and our Project page to learn all about it!), this is a promising time for our company as we prepare our next exciting steps forward. It is with utmost gratitude that we thank our unbelievable donors, specialists, and sponsors for helping us build the foundation for our company and for giving us the support to take our company’s unique mission to exciting new levels. Your support and generosity have made it possible for us to do so much – working with orphanages, writing original songs, creating original shows, exploring peak health strategies & optimum well-being, working with incredible sponsoring companies & specialists, as well as reaching audiences and communities in new, different, and more profound theatrical ways. We are so inspired by all we’ve been given and all we’ve been empowered to give. Join our mailing list below, we cannot wait to share with you all that we have on the horizon!

Thank you!!!!!!!

Amy Miller

Amy Miller

Artistic Director

Transcendence Theatre Company

The Transcendence Artist Project was a MASSIVE SUCCESS!

Our four month "Transcendence Artist Project" at The Gertrude Pearlman Theatre in Punta Banda, Mexico finished on a successful high note at the beginning of July! The Transcendence Theatre Company would like to thank EVERYONE who made this project possible. Thank you to all of our donors, our 15 specialists, our 19 sponsors, the board of The Gertrude Pearlman Theatre, and the communities of Punta Banda and Rosarito, Mexico. Without all of you, our entire exploration, theatrical performances, and community service projects would not have been possible. We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for your support and generosity. We encourage all of you to join our mailing lists so you can stay up to date with our company's mission and upcoming projects. The future is VERY bright for all of us!

The Transcendence Artist Project- Last Hoorah!

In the final stretch of the Transcendence Artist Project, we held a "Why I Love Theatre" night at the Gertrude Pearlman Theatre. Having shared many theatrical experiences with the community, we took the opportunity to connect with them on a deeper level by delving into their personal relationships to the theatre. We sat in a circle on the stage and candidly shared our heartfelt stories, songs and experiences with one another. It proved to be an incredible bonding experience characterized by a spirit of love for the theatre and a belief in its importance for our world!




Our last performance in Punta Banda was the perfect venue for us to express our appreciation for the community and to celebrate the future of our company! We held a gala fundraiser which included a review show interspersed with heartfelt speeches by company members, a silent auction, and a luncheon graciously donated by our friends and local restaurants Baja Mama's and La Bufadora Grill. We also commemorated the 14th anniversary of the Gertrude Pearlman Theatre by showing footage from it's grand opening in 1995. Together we toasted to our future endeavors and successes and left feeling satisfied that we had indeed had one last wonderful hoorah!